Bounty Hunter: Shadows of Oblivion
by ZZ Eclipse
Summary: As the galaxy stands on the brink of full scale war again, the celebrated Bounty Hunter, Zetto Nova, is given a job he cannot refuse. What he finds on the other side of space will change his life and alter the fate of the galaxy forever.
1. Dramatis Personae

**:Characters:**

**Zetto Nova;** Mandalorian Mercenary (Human Male)

**Mako Rholar;** Slicer, ex-bounty hunter (Cyborg Female)

**Gault Rennow/Tyresius Lokai;** Sniper (Devaronian Male)

**Torian Cadera;** Mandalorian Hunter (Human Male)

**Blizz;** Mechanic, tech enthusiast (Jawa Male)

**Skadge;** White Maw Pirate (Houk Male)

**Junta Ling;** Imperial Grand Moff (Chiss Female)

**Argidiel Blackheart;** Warrior, Dark Lord of the Sith (Sith Pureblood Male)

**Zera Blackheart;** Sith Sorceress, Apprentice (Miraluka Female)

**Xadion Peacewalker;** Former Imperial Intelligence Agent (Cyborg Male)

**Nik Kelrian;** Treasure Hunter, Explorer (Human Male)

**Tequila Starlight;** Coruscanti Smuggler (Human Female)


	2. Chapter 1

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

There were two things that Gault Rennow hated more than anything in a starship, and both of them described the cell he was being held in now: wet and cold. The makeshift prison cell was located in the cargo hold. A large cooling unit kept the cargo hold at a slightly uncomfortable temperature. Water dripped softly from exhaust pipes leading out of the hold and into the rest of the ship, creating a very damp, miserable environment for any prisoner trapped in the cell.

Gault rested his hot forehead against the cold, steely bars that made up his bed as the ship's belly began to rumble, announcing its descent to whatever hell he was being shipped off to. With a loud but soft thud, he felt the ship land and took three slow breaths to steady his racing heart as he heard the access hatch open somewhere outside, followed by footsteps and muffled words.

After a minute's time, the pleasantries outside ceased and the footsteps began again, growing louder and closer, muffled noises clarifying into somewhat audible voices.

"He's here, you truly have him?"

The door leading out of the cargo hold slid open and light poured in, temporarily blinding Gault as a giant figure stomped inside. Lights flooded the room, illuminating the entire hold, revealing the enormous bulky pirate Skadge escorting a scrawny, shorter man.

"Ha, look at the little twerp," Skadge laughed with a cruel smile. "Curled up asleep like a baby. Wakey, wakey!" He picked up a bucket that was catching water that dripped from the cooling unit and splashed the water in.

Gault jumped with a surprised yelp as the icy cold water tensed him up.

"See for yourself," Skadge told the other man, stepping aside and giving him a full look.

"Incredible," he said. "After six years, Tyresius Lokai is finally back from the dead."

"Benny boy," Gault spoke up cheerfully, cringing at the sound of his real name. "Long time no see, old buddy. You lost some weight."

"Still quite the talker, aren't you?" Ben's voice lowered to the growl. "But I finally have you in my grasp." He turned to Skadge and nodded.

Skadge entered an access number on the cell and roughly forced Gault out.

"Walk, maggot."

"Impressive." Ben purred as Gault emerged. "Most impressive. You have managed to capture the one man that I've only dreamed of catching for ten long years!"

"Uh, this is getting weird," Gault interrupted. "I think I'll just take my chances with the useless, walking sack of Gundark nutballs over here."

Skadge roared in anger and swung a giant, meaty fist into Gault's abdomen. Gault crumbled under the blow, feeling it vibrate through the rest of his body.

"Worth it," he grunted with a pained smirk.

"Get up, you pathetic worm!" Ben pulled Lokai to his feet by his horn.

"Hey, hey, hey! Easy on the horn! It's the last one I got!"

Something cold and metallic was strapped to the back of his neck and Gault only realized what it was when he felt the intense shock wave cursing through his body.

"Alright, I'm going! I'm going!" He grunted, stumbling forward and out of the cargo hold.

They walked down the lowered ramp and Gault groaned when he finally realized where he was.

"I have a Sith Lord due here in mere hours and I won't have the likes of you ruining my reputation. Welcome home," Ben said with a cruel laugh. "The finest spice mine in the galaxy awaits the great Tyresius Lokai, back from the dead!"

"Not so fast, you gotta pay for him, first!"

Ben let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ah, yes. Here we are."

Ben lifted a cylindrical object and waved it like a wand. In a flash of light, a solid black purse appeared in Ben's hands, which he handed to Skadge. Skadge smiled hungrily.

"Bye bye now, Lokai. Enjoy your quality time with the man you scammed!"

But Gault didn't even hear him. His eyes were glued onto the cylindrical teleportation device in Ben's hands with a glint of curiosity and desire.

* * *

Deep inside the cavernous mining facility, the young man watched from the shadows of the poorly lit room as two guards walked side by side down the long hallway in the uppermost level of the prison.

"Well, Banj seemed incredibly happy the past couple of days," one commented.

"They finally caught Lokai," the other responded. "Of course they'll be celebrating."

"Ten years of running and they finally found him."

"Not to wander how he stayed in hiding all this time. The guy's as elusive as a Rishi eel."

"The fourteen million credits he stole from Banj's father must have been pretty useful as well, I imagine."

"Really? How did he steal that much?"

"Told the old man he was selling spice and sold him four million credits in crates filled with Tattoine sand."

They shared a hearty laugh as the man in the shadows pressed a button on his wrist armor.

"So, what do you think caused the power outage-?"

"Did ya hear that?" the first guard turned back to his companion.

"Hear what? I didn't hear anything."

"Sounds like… I'll check it out. Stay here and guard the door."

_One down, one to go. Good._

The man in the shadows waited for the guard to leave before bringing up his wrist gauntlet and aiming it at the remaining officer. With a short wisp, a tranquilizing dart shot out and zipped into the guard's neck. He grunted and reached for his neck. Five seconds later, he collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

Torian Cadera stepped out of the shadows and immediately dragged the downed guard into the corner he had been hiding in. He knotted the guard's arms with his own clingwire, tightening it securely as he listened to the silent murmurs of his armor's scanners. He smiled when his helmet's HUD indicated that the first guard was still searching around for the mysterious noise.

It was a calling device he had made while hunting in the forests of Dromund Kaas with his Mandalorian clan. It would deliver a high pitched noise meant to attract curious animals, but Torian always knew how to improvise. A soft beep on his HUD alerted him to the guard's returning paces. Torian bolted forward down the hall and through the only door on the left.

HOLDING PENS

The words glowed bright green. Ignoring the foul smell of the beasts of burden around him, Torian dashed ahead. Through the recording bug he had planted just outside in the hall, he heard the guard's panicked reaction at finding his fellow guard lying unconscious in a corner.

Time was running out. Torian pressed a button on the side of his helmet and a tiny holomap of the facility bounced up, marking his current position and that of his objective. He saw the gates he was looking for just ahead of him. He pulled a small remote from his sleeve and set off the second decoy sound emitter he had planted.

_That should buy me some time._

He peeled off the pack he had been carrying on his bag as he reached the gates. Giant electrochains held the old fashion durasteel bars closed. For being one of the wealthiest mining colonies in the galaxy, those in charge of the Kessel Spice mines were extremely stingy, and hardly seemed to care enough to keep up to date equipment, even if it endangered the lives of their workers. Without wasting any more time entertaining his thoughts, Torian placed the pack on the gate lock and sealed it, typing in a set of numbers in the keypad.

The countdown began to tick down and Torian smiled to himself. The pulse bomb had been set. By the time anyone discovered it, it would be too late.

"Now comes the easy part," he said to himself. He reached for his techstaff and brought it forth, feeling the reassuring weight of his trusty weapon in his hands. He stilled his breath and his heartbeat, concentrating on the subtle noise and vibrations of the feet stomping towards him.

"_Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur."_

The first guard flew around the corner.

Torian gave off a feral roar and leaped forward.

* * *

For the first time since he had worked with the Grand Champion of the Great Hunt, Gault was happy that he had been forced to master biochemistry. Through trial and error, they had come up with an adrenal powerful enough to allow him to withstand the initial torture he had gone through since first arriving at the mine.

Frustrated and exhausted, the guards had given up and instead decided to throw him into one of the holding cells and wait for the adrenals to wear off before continuing. By the tingling he felt on his fingers, he could tell that would be soon. Once again, he found himself trapped in a cell. He leaned his head back against the uncomfortable durasteel bed and drifted off to sleep, impatiently waiting.

* * *

The guard didn't know what it was until it was too late. He curiously examined the device and its strange alien numbers before realizing it was a countdown, and the countdown had just reached zero.

The explosion shook the building hard, pulverizing the gates.

Eight blue eyes glowed within the cavernous hole beyond the gates. With a loud screech, the monster inside leapt out.

* * *

The Gamorreans were playing some Huttese board game when a wide eyed, panicked guard burst in through the doors.

"Energy Spider attack!" he wailed. "Don't just sit there, get out here and fight!"

The Gamorreans traded indiscernible glances, reached for their weapons and ran out with the guard, leaving only one guard behind to watch over their prisoners. He sat at the end of the room reading a small book.

Gault almost fell back asleep when the door slammed open again.

"What is it this time," the remaining guard called out from his chair, annoyed. He looked up in time to see the enormous end of Torian's tech staff slamming hard against his face. The guard fell back, unconscious and Torian picked up the security card and headed for Gault's cell.

"Gosh, I was beginning to like it in here," Gault commented. "Did you find what it?"

"Oh, I found it, alright."

"How big?"

"Sixty-seven cases."

Gault's mouth swung open.

"Only problem is getting it out. Maybe we can steal a cart from the worker area-"

"I think I have a better idea," Gualt interrupted. "Follow me."

"Hey, you!" A booming voice sounded from the entrance as a huge guard entered the room. "Stop where you are, now!"

Torian didn't wait. He jumped high into the air, the repulsorlift jets on his boots elevating him far across the room towards the guard. He landed, slamming both feet against the guard, hard.

The guard crossed his enormous, bulky arms and absorbed the blow. He reached back for his vibroblade and Torian smiled under his helmet.

_This is going to be fun._

He feinted to his left and reversed immediately, bringing his weapon around from underneath in a move that had beaten him once before. The move caught the guard unexpectedly from under his chin. His teeth bit into his lip and he staggered back. He spat out blood and wiped a hand across his face in anger. With a growl he surged forward, slicing three times at Torian's head.

Torian dodged the first two swings and parried the third one, activating the electric point on his tech staff. The blow glanced off, but the impact made Torian step back. He feigned unbalance, and the guard took the bait, kicking him hard in the abdomen and sending him tumbling down the stairs. Emergency readouts blazed red under his helmet, warning him of the damage his armor had taken.

Torian waited half a second for the guard to come rushing in for the finishing blow before leaping to his feet. From the HUD in his helmet, he clearly registered the guard's look of surprise as he brought up his wrist gauntlet and activated his flamethrower. The guard was engulfed in flames as Torian burned down the reserve of fuel he had on the gauntlet.

When the smoke cleared, the guard still stood, unharmed, with a devilish grin on his face. A light blue energy shield had saved the guard from death. Torian quickly looked around for his weapon and saw it lying far out of his reach.

"My turn," The guard laughed and aimed the cannon on his wrist gauntlet at Torian. It glowed and rumbled into a roar as light began to gather violently around it. Through his HUD, Torian saw the energy gathering around the device growing immensely hot, with enough power to go completely through him.

_So it ends here. In battle, at least. In honor._

The guard gave off a cruel laugh of victory.

"You Mandalorians are quite the drama queens, aren't you?" Gault commented from behind the guard. The guard snapped his head back in surprise as Gault swung a heavy durasteel bar across the guard's bald head. With a grunt, the guard fell forward, his attack interrupted.

"You see? Big, heavy bar makes big heavy guard go 'night night'." Gault swung the bar one last time, knocking the guard unconscious. Then, with the guard's own electrostaff, he gave him a quick electrocution to make sure he stayed down.

"Nice, Gault. Very nice."

"Yep, never fails."

Torian performed a heat release and recharge on his armor as Gault pick pocketed the guard taking his wallet and his blaster rifle.

"I'd prefer a snipey, but this'll have to do."

Torian nodded, his heart pumping as his chrono hit zero.

"Alright then, let's go."

* * *

Ben Gasgano ran down the corridor to his office. The greatest day of his life had become his worst in less than an hour. Lord Howl would soon be arriving to inspect the ancient relics they had found deep inside the mining caves, and the place was in chaos. The Energy Spider had found and freed two nesting pens of its arachnid brethren, and now seven of them rampaged throughout the mines, laying waste to equipment and killing all guards that attempted to stop them.

He needed to grab his belongings and leave the planet. He passed his security key and barged into his office without paying attention. His chair flipped around, and Gault held his prototype teleportation device.

Ben gasped as Gault pressed the buttons on the device.

"Interesting gizmo you got here, Benny."

Ben paled visibly. "Lokai, let's not do anything rash, shall we? Just put it down and we can talk."

"Instant physical teleportation, a dream we've all had since the discovery of lightspeed."

"Tyresius, don't! It's not what you think…"

"I'm taking this baby with me!"

"You most certainly will not!"

"Come get it then," Gault mocked. "Or do you have less of a backbone than your daddy?"

Ben roared, reaching for a vibro axe he had on display on his wall and surged forward. Gault had not expected such reaction and he fumbled for his blaster, accidentally pressing the green button on the device. The device glowed and shot a green light at Ben.

Ben screamed as light enveloped him, and then he vanished into thin air.

"Oh… Oops!"

"What happened to him?" Torian asked from the vault.

Gault studied the small screen on the device. "It was already preset to a planet… I think I sent him to Hoth!" He responded, genuinely amused. "Did you get that thing open yet?"

"Come look."

Gault got up from the desk and hurried to the vault. His jaw dropped in awe. About seventy or so cases of engspice, the galaxy's most valuable spice, were stacked neatly in crates, and Gault's mouth began to water at the thought of how much Jenma the Hutt would pay for this much spice.

"Alright, alright," he said. "If my theory is correct, we fire at the product we want, then set the coordinates for the destination."

"Do it. I'll contact Zetto." Torian walked out of the vault as Gault went to work. He activated the holo comm on his wrist gauntlet, hailing towards a ship that was stealthily flying in from orbit.

* * *

"Torian Cadera to Skyfire, come in."

The Grand Champion of the Great Hunt pressed a gloved finger against the comm button on the dash.

"Read you loud and clear, kid. What do you got for me?"

"We found several crates of engspice… and a device that may cost more than any of the other jobs we've had _combined_."

This caught the Champion's interest. He ignored Gault's protesting from the other end and reached for his navi computer.

"Downloading the coordinates from my ship to your HUD. Be there in two standard minutes."

"Copy that, Skyfire. Anything else?"

The Champion gazed out from the viewscreen. Normally on these types of quests, he would go out of his way to find something new and interesting to bring back as a gift for Mako. It had been three years since they'd parted ways, but at times, part of him still longed for her.

"Sir?"

The Champion shook his head, pushing all thoughts of Mako out of his mind. Mako was gone. It was time to move on.

"That'll be all, Torian. Meet me at the coordinates. I'm swinging the Skyfire by in sixty seconds. Zetto Nova out."

* * *

"Time to move!" Torian called out as Gault emerged from the vault.

"Let's get outta here!"

They bolted out of the office and ran down the hall taking two lefts and a right, following Zetto's coordinates. They ran through a hatch and into a landing pad.

The cool breeze pushed gently against armor. A blaster bolt zipped by his head, missing him by inches. He and Gault turned to see a full squad of guards aiming laser cannons at them. From the sides, two landspeeders with built in laser canons emerged, aiming all sights on them.

The bald guard from before emerged from the group, sporting a black eye. He smiled a toothless grin of satisfaction of having caught his prey. As he raised his hand to give the final order, a deafening roar shook the landing pad. Two proton torpedoes streaked from the sky and obliterated the two landspeeders. The guards dove to the floor, looking up in surprise as the huge, _Wasp_-class starfreighter emerged from the clouds. It swooped in over Torian and Gault, opening up a side access hatch while two small turrets opened fire on the guards.

"Go!" Torian yelled over the deafening pings of the Skyfire's laser turrets. Gault ran up the ramp and dove inside followed closely by Torian. The hatch closed behind them and the ship rose up into the heavens and out of the system. A squadron of starfighters flew in, attempting to block their escape, but the Skyfire picked up a colossal amount of speed and energy, and just as the squadron reached it, the Skyfire made the jump to lightspeed.


End file.
